Manchester City players share the secrets to their career success

Hays, the world’s leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people, recently launched a series of short video interviews with key Manchester City players, to discover how they developed their successful careers. As the Official Recruitment Partner of Manchester City, Hays has supported the football club in building their organisation with expert professionals. During the five years as Official Recruitment Partner, Hays has identified many parallels between the world of work and elite sport, including a strong focus on leadership, scouting, preparation and understanding the ingredients of building a successful and winning team.

The videos reveal the dedication and ambition it has taken three Manchester City players to reach the top of their game, as well as the people who influenced and supported them in their development. Manchester City captain, Vincent Kompany, talks about how he has taken lessons from each of the managers he has worked with over the years, “I’ve been at City now for about ten years. I’ve been fortunate to work with a lot of managers here. You get to learn a little bit from everybody, as much from their strengths as from their mistakes.”
Drawing from his own experiences as a young player, Kompany believes it is his responsibility to help to nurture young talent and encourage their development, he explains, “The aspect of leadership, I think it evolves with age and with the group that you’re in. I’ve been part of teams that were completely diverse and across different generations.” Kompany added, “I’m at this stage now where I see these young guys going through the same journey that I’ve been through and I want to be there to help them one hundred per cent.”

Fernandhino states the importance of the support and encouragement he received from management to help him grow as a player from a young age, including his current manager, Pep Guardiola. Fernandhino said, “Pep Guardiola is one of the best I have ever worked with. He is an inspiration to his team and to his players, like me.”
Speaking of former coaches and directors that have helped him throughout his career, Fernandhino said, “All of them helped me a lot, to grow as a player, but especially as a person. Positive attitudes all the time, they were so important in my life and I will be thankful to them for the rest of my life.”

Yaya Touré spoke about the people who influenced his development and gave him a sense of commitment to reach the top of his profession. He discusses the encouragement he received from not only his brother but coaching staff too. Touré said, “I had a lot of coaches around me, who tried to help me because they realised that I have a talent.” Speaking specifically about the influence his brother, Kolo, had on his career Touré added, “He helped me to develop more qualities. My quality as a footballer and my quality as a human being.”

Sholto Douglas-Home, Chief Marketing Officer at Hays, commented, “There are many interesting parallels between the world of work, and the world of elite sport. We use our partnership with Manchester City to highlight how professionals can apply these parallels to their own careers – such as the dedication it takes to reach the top of their game, as well as other areas such as leadership skills and the power of teamwork. With 50 years’ experience, we at Hays understand these factors, and are constantly striving to help people take their careers to the next level.”